


alone together

by beebutts



Series: sleeping at last [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 14:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15632880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beebutts/pseuds/beebutts
Summary: Agent 8 frequently has nightmares about her life in the Octarian Army, the things she's done, and her experience in the Deepsea Metro.Fortunately, Agent 3 is there to help her through them.





	alone together

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea what i'm doing but i just finished watching a playthrough of splatoon (including splatoon 2 + the new octo expansion) and i'm in love with this series now  
> so! here goes nothing ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

The first time it happens, Agent 8 wakes up in a cold sweat, eyes open wide, and almost gasping for air.

She immediately pushes herself onto her feet with a loud _thud_ and begins to fumble around in the dark for her Octo Shot. Dread starts to bloom in her stomach as she realizes that she can’t find her weapon anywhere. Her heart begins to race, her movements become frantic and erratic, she’s pretty sure that she’s about to throw up from the panic that’s beginning to overwhelm her and -

The light suddenly turns on.

“Eight?”

She blinks once. Then she blinks again. Her vision slowly adjusts to the light and clears up, revealing the scene before her: her mattress is bare beside the bed sheet, while her blanket and pillows now reside in a pile on the floor. Agent 8 looks a little closer and realizes that she may have actually ripped the bed sheet with her nails. Her face flushes pink in embarrassment as she turns around to face Agent 3, who’s currently standing in the doorway, rubbing her right eye and squinting at Agent 8 with her left.

“What...what are you doing?” Agent 3 asks, her tone signalling her utter annoyance with being awake at some ungodly hour in the morning. Immediately, Agent 8 averts her gaze; she doesn’t really want to admit that she’s been having nightmares about her past. She’s been so adamant on the idea that her past isn’t going to affect her anymore, that what’s been done is done, that she’s perfectly _fine_ , totally not because that’s how she was trained to act -

“Agent 8?” Agent 3 interrupts her chain of thoughts once again, though her voice is suddenly a bit louder and - _wow_ , when did she get so close? She’s now in front of Agent 8, kneeling (wait - when did Eight fall to the ground?) and looking straight into her eyes. Eight’s eyes soon notice the Hero Shot that hangs from her side. It’s obvious to anyone that she tenses up at the sight of the weapon. Even Three, as oblivious as she can be sometimes, notices how stiff Agent 8 has become. She follows the octoling’s gaze to her shooter that’s strapped to her side. Swiftly, she unhooks it and places it behind her, before returning her gaze to Agent 8.

“Sorry,” Three mumbles, taking this moment to yawn and stretch her arms behind her head. The unspoken words of ‘ _I thought you were an intruder_ ’ ring through Eight’s head, despite the fact that their apartment is situated in a rather safe area. This thought only causes her embarrassment to grow, which dyes her face with an even darker shade of pink.

For almost a minute, neither of them choose to speak; Agent 3 doesn’t really know how to handle the situation (emotions aren’t really her strong suit), while Agent 8 is trying to calm her thoughts down. It’s only when both of them realize that the other hasn’t said anything yet that they try to speak. At the same time.

“You okay -”

“I’m sorry -”

They pause and stare at each other for a moment, before Three gives Eight a nod of her head to let her speak first. “I’m sorry for waking you up,” the octoling murmurs, releasing a shaky sigh afterwards. “I...panicked? Because, um, I couldn’t find my...uh...phone?” Agent 8 winces internally at how bad of a liar she is. Even Agent 3 does, too, but knows better than to question her when she clearly does not want to reveal the truth.

Instead, Agent 3 turns around to grab her Hero Shot, before standing up. She begins to exit Agent 8’s room, but stops at her doorway once more. Her head turns to look at Eight.

“If you need me, I’ll be in my room.”

Then, Three closes the door, leaving Agent 8 all alone with her roaring mind.

* * *

The second time it happens, Agent 8 falls off her bed before she can realize that it was just another nightmare.

She lands on her stomach quite roughly, which knocks the wind out of her for a moment. Still thinking that she’s in her nightmare, Eight moves swiftly to her feet and into a basic fighting stance, before her eyes snap onto the nightlight that’s resting on her desk nearby. Instantly, her guard drops; she sweeps her surroundings and figures out - once again - that it was all just a nightmare.

Agent 8 lets out a heavy sigh. She walks over towards her desk and picks up the nightlight to examine it. It’s nothing much, really, just a cone-shaped light engraved with crescent moons and stars. It emanates a warm, orange glow that’s not too harsh on the eyes, but bright enough to light up the majority of her desk. Granted, her desk is rather small, but it still doesn’t do a bad job at lighting it up.

Her thumbnail traces the outline of one of the many moons on the night light. This routine of hers - locating, examining, and picking up the night light - helps steady herself when she wakes up in the middle of the night from a dreamless sleep, or when she’s starting to feel caged and restless within her room. It makes her feel a little more ‘grounded’; in other words, it helps remind her that she’s in her’s and Agent 3’s apartment, and not underground or in the Deepsea Metro.

However, she can’t quite get rid of the crawling sensation she feels in her skin. It persists slowly, as if there are actually insects steadily trodding up her arms and legs. Unsettled and starting to feel even unnerved in her own bedroom, Eight decides to find Agent 3, who should still be up watching Netflix right now. Eight remembers how Three offered her assistance the last time something like this happened, and hopes that offer is still available. She places the night light back on her desk and proceeds to exit her bedroom.

When she opens her door, she turns right and is greeted by her living room. It’s dimly lit with fairy lights that have been carefully taped up, as well as some small nightlights plugged into almost every single socket.The lighting is courtesy of Agent 3, who spent a good portion of her afternoon off from turfing setting up various night lights and fairy lights (as well as offering no more than a ‘don’t worry about it’ and a flushed face when inquired about this).

Agent 8 smiles fondly at the memory for a moment, before realizing that Three isn’t present in the room. At least, she doesn’t notice anything bright green in the low light of the living room. She turns back to face the door to Agent 3’s room. The octoling suspects that Three’s chosen to watch Netflix in the comfort of her bed for once.

Eight rests her hand on the handle of the door and leans forwards. “Agent Thr-,” she gets out before she suddenly falls forwards, the door to Three’s room swinging open.

She manages to catch herself quickly and stops herself from colliding with the ground. The octoling realizes that Agent 3’s door had already been unlocked, and quickly moves to her feet to apologize to Three for intruding. Her words get caught in her mouth, however, when she notices that Agent 3’s room is as...disorganized as ever, to kindly put it, with the inkling nowhere to be found.

Three’s absence unsettles her further. Although Agent 8 knows that the inkling’s probably doing some late-night turfing or a mission from Captain Cuttlefish, the nightmare from tonight has rattled her so much that everything is beginning to disturb her. As such, her perfectly-reasonable mind decides that the best course of action is to spontaneously clean up Agent 3’s room. Even though Eight knows that Three will trash the place again (as she has cleaned Three’s room a few times before), she finds solace in such a simple yet calming task.

Within a few minutes, she’s managed to unearth Agent 3’s bed from the pile of clothes and blankets stacked upon it. However, it takes her roughly 15 minutes to fold and hang Three’s clothes. When finished, she proceeds to make the bed and rid the desk of all its wrappers, empty bottles, and dirty dishes. It takes her about an hour in total to clean up Agent 3’s room, save for vacuuming the carpet and wiping the windows.

When she’s done, she plops down unceremoniously beside Agent 3’s bed and stretches her arms above her head. Cleaning Three’s room has helped calm her nerves somewhat, but Agent 8 still feels unsettled. The nightmare is still fresh in her mind, not to mention that Agent 3 still hasn’t returned from...wherever she is. Although Eight knows that the inkling is capable of taking care of herself, she still worries. It’s almost two in the morning - shouldn’t she be back by now?

Regardless of her uneasiness, Eight’s mind starts to grow wearier and wearier. It seems like the hour-long cleaning session, as well as being up incredibly early in the morning, has finally taken its toll on her. She doesn’t quite notice the oncoming drowsiness, however, and does not remove herself from Agent 3’s room. Instead, she continues to ponder about Three’s whereabouts and repress the returning memories of her past, all the while slowly and eventually falling asleep beside Agent 3’s bed.

Unfortunately for Agent 8, Agent 3 decides that now is the best time to return home.

Knowing that Agent 8 is most likely asleep, Three opens and closes the door behind her gently before slipping off her runners. She places them by the door and starts heading for her room when she notices that the door is ajar. Her mind instantly snaps to the worst possible scenario - that someone has invaded their apartment - which causes her to tense up. Worried, she unzips her bag to pull out her Hero Shot and aims it in front of her, all while slowly moving towards her door.

She notices a foot sticking out in the doorway. Now more confused than anxious, she pads closer and notices the unconscious form of Agent 8. The octoling’s currently leaning against Three’s bed, resting her arms and head on it, and snoring softly. Agent 3 doesn’t quite understand why Agent 8 is present in her room until she realizes that she can actually see her bed for once. And her table. And her floor. And - well, generally all the things that are typically in a bedroom.

Three steps over Eight’s legs and heads for her desk. She carefully places her bag and her Hero Shot on the table, making sure that she makes as little noise as possible. Even though she knows that Eight’s a heavy sleeper, Three doesn’t want to risk waking her. The octoling deserves all the rest she can get, with how often Agent 3 hears her awake in the early morning, rummaging or pacing around in her room.

Then, Agent 3 decides to do something that she’ll probably wish she didn’t do in the morning. She heads towards her bed and pulls back the comforter. Almost effortlessly, she bends down to slide her arms under Agent 8’s legs and back, and picks her up. Three gently places Eight on the bed, tucks her in, and steps back as if she’s an artist admiring her latest piece.

(A quieter part of Three’s mind pointedly notes that Eight _is_ a piece of art, but Three pays no attention to that voice.)

(Well, maybe she pays a _little_ attention to it.)

She watches as Eight turns towards her, eyes still closed, and snuggles in a little closer. Eight then seemingly tries to dig her face into Three’s pillow, before letting out what Three assumes to be a pleased sigh. Although Three doesn’t really like to share her stuff or anything in general, she somehow likes seeing Eight all cuddled up in her bed.

(That thought doesn’t scare her as much as it should.)

Regardless of what she’s otherwise thinking of, Three now doesn’t have a bed to sleep in. She briefly considers taking Eight’s bed, but she thinks that would be a little _too_ weird. Instead, she decides that she’ll just start working on the report that the New Squidbeak Splatoon wants (well, mainly Marie) from her by tomorrow evening. Agent 3 heads out of her room and closes the door as silently as she can. Then, she heads towards the storage closet located by the entrance of the apartment.

She opens the closet and removes a white blanket from one of the shelves. Three throws it over her shoulder, closes the closet, and heads for the couch in the living room. Unceremoniously, she tosses the blanket on the couch, plops down in front of the coffee table that’s before the sofa, and opens up her laptop that’s sitting on top of it. Immediately, she’s greeted by an insanely-bright screen that’s only dulled slightly by the surrounding warm light.

Agent 3 winces slightly at the brightness (and perhaps at the thought of having to do a report at two in the morning). She wants to sleep, but she knows that she has a hard time falling asleep on the couch. Still, Three takes a moment to think about trying to get even only an hour of sleep. Eventually, though, Three comes to the decision that it’s probably better for her to get this report done, chug a couple of energy drinks when she gets tired, and sleep in her own bed in the morning.

And so, Agent 3 lets out a long, drawn-out sigh before logging into her laptop to begin her report.

* * *

Ever since that day, Agent 8 starts to find herself in Agent 3’s room more and more often after a nightmare. Even if Three’s room is still rather clean, Eight always enters the inkling’s room and tidies up her room as much as she’s able to. Of course, the same thing still happens - Eight falling asleep beside or even on Three’s bed - and Agent 8 still profusely apologizes to Agent 3 in the morning for doing it again. Despite feeling guilty about stealing Three’s bed, Eight still continues to complete this routine whenever the other isn’t home.

Deep down inside, though, she actually really enjoys sleeping in Agent 3’s bed due to how big it is and how she can spread out in her sleep. Eight’s own bed is not bad - just a little small, in her own opinion. She would’ve gotten a bigger one, but she didn’t have the money for it and she didn’t want Agent 3, Pearl, or Marina buying her more stuff when they’ve already done so much for her.

(She also thinks that she secretly likes sleeping in Three’s bed for other reasons, but she’d rather not dwell on that thought for too long.)

This night is no different from the others: Agent 8 has, yet again, woken up in the middle of the night from another nightmare about her life in the Octarian Army. Instead of going over to her nightlight like she normally does, though, Eight decides to skip that part and head straight for Agent 3’s room. She knows most of her comfort comes from cleaning and falling asleep in Three’s room, so she’s starting to see no point in dwelling in her own room any longer.

Like always, Eight opens her bedroom’s door and walks over to Three’s room. She knows that the door is open - which is usually a signal that Three is, yet again, not home - but Agent 8 likes to wait outside of Agent 3’s room and listen closely for Three’s light snoring, just in case the inkling has returned while the octoling was asleep. Agent 8 waits for a few seconds, hears nothing, and decides it’s safe to head in -

And sees Agent 3. Facing towards her. On her bed.

Immediately, the beginning of an apology is on the tip of her tongue. However, she manages to stop herself from speaking aloud when she notices that Three appears to be asleep. Her eyes are closed and her breathing is slow enough to indicate that she has just fallen asleep.

Although Agent 8 has no right to be in Agent 3’s room, even more so when she’s asleep, Eight can’t help but find herself slightly entranced by Three. She’s never actually _seen_ the inkling asleep before, despite living in the same apartment as her. The completely relaxed expression on Agent 3’s face intrigues Agent 8 a lot, especially with how often she finds her looking tired, or grouchy, or both, on a daily basis. Eight stands there for a long moment, staring at Three for what should be an awkward amount of time, but finally decides to -

“Are you going to keep standing there and watching me creepily in my sleep?”

Agent 8 lets out a very loud yelp and jumps backwards. Agent 3 finally opens her eyes, revealing that she hadn’t been asleep the entire time. This causes Eight to panic.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to, I-I thought you weren’t home and I know I said I wouldn’t do it again but -” Agent 8 continues to profusely apologize her for actions. It looks like she’s about to start crying, which prompts Agent 3 to freeze up before moving up into a sitting position.

“No - sorry, no, it’s fine,” Agent 3 mumbles, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Agent 8 stops speaking. “I was - I was only trying to tease you. Sorry.” Eight chooses not to speak and looks down, twirling her tentacles absentmindedly. Three rubs her face, starting to feel awful for trying to tease her when it already seems like she’s already somewhat insecure.

The awkward silence lasts for a while. Suddenly, Agent 3 feels like it’s up to her to end the silence. “So - what’s wrong?” she asks, but cringes internally at her monotone tone. Three knows she should sound a little more supportive right now, but she just came back from a mission and she had been hoping to get at least four hours of sleep.

“Nothing,” Agent 8 lies smoothly. Something in Three snaps.

“Bullshit - tell me what’s wrong,” Agent 3 almost growls. She watches Eight look at her and jerk back as if she tried to bite her (which, honestly, she probably did). It prompts Three to facepalm herself and wish that she never had such a short temper towards people that lie to her.

Sighing, Three pushes back her bangs with her hand before placing it back down on her lap. “Sorry,” she apologizes to Eight, but even she knows how unapologetic she sounds right now. “A bit tired,” she half-assedly adds, and is just starting to realize the grave she’s digging herself right now. Agent 3 is finally starting to hate her lack of social interaction with others.

Agent 3 tries again, making sure to use a much gentler tone this time. “What’s wrong?” she asks, voice soft and careful as if she’s treading on unknown territory (which she is, honestly). Three notices the nervous look that rests on Eight’s face. Trying to make her feel a little more comfortable, Agent 3 hastily adds on: “If you want, you can sit down beside me.” She pats the spot to her right to emphasize her point.

Agent 8 lets out her own sigh this time before responding. “It’s all right,” she murmurs, looking away once again. “It was...just a nightmare. I’m okay. I’ll...I’ll go back to my room.” Eight turns to leave, holding her right arm where one of her bigger scars is.

Suddenly, Agent 3 leans forwards and grabs Agent 8’s right hand. Eight whips around to face Three, her expression shocked, but doesn’t draw her hand back like she normally does. Physical contact that isn’t initiated by her usually freaks her out and makes her panic. Instead, she keeps her hand in Three’s, maybe even gripping back, while staring at the inkling with an expression of both surprise and slight curiousity.

“I…” Agent 3’s at a loss for words. She’s not exactly sure why she just grabbed Agent 8. She’s also not exactly sure why she can’t get any words out of her mouth. And, she’s especially not sure as to why she’s noticing that Eight’s wearing the navy blue muscle tank and black shorts that she gave her, or why she’s noticing how the fairy lights strung up outside are framing Eight’s form with a warm glow, as if she’s the octoling embodiment of the sun.

Both of them begin to blush at each other. Neither of them really notice due to how dark it is in Three’s room, and how the only light source comes from the fairy and nightlights in Eight’s room and the living room. Finally, Agent 3 decides to be the one to end the awkward silence (again): “You...you can stay. In my room. For...a while. If you’d like.”

Agent 8 doesn’t respond to her. Agent 3 is wondering why she just said that, and is starting to internally panic. It’s completely uncharacteristic of her to allow others to stay in her room, especially since she finds it to be the only place where she can fully distance herself from the world. In fact, she’s been doing a lot of things that are completely unlike her ever since Agent 8 moved into her apartment.

Deep in her thoughts, Agent 3 doesn’t quite catch Agent 8’s question besides the last word - “down”. Even though she has no idea what Eight just said, Three somehow finds herself nodding her head (maybe a little too enthusiastically). Eight lets go of Three’s hand and moves to sit down on Three’s bed. The inkling shuffles over to the left and watches the octoling seat herself before practically squishing herself into a corner of Agent 3’s bed. She pulls her legs to her chest, wraps her arms around them, and stares at seemingly nothing in front of her. Not knowing what to do, Agent 3 decides to scoot a little closer to Agent 8, but not close enough that they’re touching.

Three stares at Eight for a moment. She doesn’t really know what to do, honestly. Whenever any of her friends (well, the agents, really) are with her, they’re usually the ones leading the conversation. Agent 3 usually just sits and listens to them, and responds when prompted to. In this case, however, it looks like she’s going to have to be the one to talk to Eight - or, at least, get Eight talking.

“So,” Agent 3 says stiffly, rubbing the back of her head where the large cross scar is. “Do you...want to talk about it?” Eight stays silent. She winces at how awkward she sounds and feels right now. Her gaze moves from Agent 8 to one of three pictures that sits on Agent 3’s desk. Although she can’t quite see it in the dark, she knows who’s in the picture.

“Marie...I would talk to Marie when I needed it,” she notes, her gaze wandering to the hem of her blanket that she’s currently holding on to. “It helps. A lot. In my opinion. It always makes me feel better...y’know? Like, uh, like there’s this weight on your shoulders before talking, and it’s been lifted off of your shoulders after you talk to someone...so…” Three knows she’s rambling at this point. It’s sort of embarrassing, what Eight can do to her sometimes.

She’s about to continue rambling when she hears a quiet sniff. Instantly, Agent 3’s head whips up. Her eyes quickly lock onto Agent 8’s face, who currently has tears running down her face and is half-heartedly trying to wipe them away with her hands. Unsure of what to do but feeling like she was responsible for Eight’s current state, Three leans in a little closer to catch Eight’s gaze. She places her arm to the right of Eight’s form, about to apologize for her words when Agent 8 suddenly throws herself into 3’s arms.

Agent 3 freezes momentarily. Agent 8, on the other hand, chooses that moment to shove her face into Three’s shoulder, starting to audibly cry. Three, again, isn’t quite sure as to what to do. She wants to return the hug, but she’s a little uncertain if Eight will be comfortable with it. Still, she feels sort of useless just sitting there, essentially acting like a teddy bear for a frightened child, and decides to hug Agent 8 back.

Fortunately, it seems like Agent 8 isn’t discomforted by having Three’s arms around her waist. Eight wraps her arms around Agent 3’s neck, burying her face a little more into the inkling’s shoulders.

“S-sorry,” Eight whispers, her voice muffled by Three’s black tank top. “I-I...I know you don’t like this stuff...Hearing you try to make me feel b-better…it reminded me of how everyone has to do things for me...b-because I can’t...I-I can’t do it myself…” Agent 8’s voice becomes incoherent after that point. Agent 3 doesn’t really know what else to do except hold Eight a little tighter and rub her back, in hopes of calming her down.

It feels like hours have passed before Agent 3 realizes that the room has gone silent. She pushes Agent 8 off of her ever so slightly to confirm that Eight has fallen asleep. Three sees her closed eyes and lets out a sigh of relief for managing to complete this task. She’s about to lay the octoling down on Three’s bed and tuck her in when Eight starts to whimper and tries to cling to Agent 3’s body.

Agent 3 lets out another sigh, this time of annoyance. She already knows that if she tries to tuck Eight into bed, she’s most likely either going to wake her up or send her into another nightmare. And, although she could just allow Eight to wake up so that she could go back to her room and Three could _finally_ sleep in her own bed, she can’t. As in, she physically feels like she can’t. And, because of that feeling (and totally not because of other reasons), Agent 3 decides that the only logical option here is to sleep with Agent 8. In her own bed. Under completely platonic (sometimes she wishes otherwise) circumstances.

Slowly, Three lays the both of them down on her bed, before grabbing the blanket that’s scrunched up at the end and throwing it over them. She turns to face Eight, who appears to be content in her sleep and not notice Three’s completely flushed face, which occurred after realizing how close she is to Eight right now. Quickly, Agent 3 turns her face away from Agent 8, but can’t exactly shuffle too far away with how the octoling is seemingly latched onto Three’s body. Then, she closes her eyes and prays to whatever gods that are out there to let her fall asleep soon. She does, after all, have a mission in two days with Agent 8 and 4, who’s going to constantly pester Agent 3 again like she always does. Three's really going to need her sleep so that she can handle both an overly-curious octoling and an overbearing inkling.

Fortunately, they seem to have heard her. Agent 3 falls asleep within five minutes, faster than she ever has before.

* * *

Nowadays, when Eight wakes up from a nightmare, she rarely ever wakes up alone. Sometimes, Agent 8 will wake up and hear Agent 3 quickly shuffle out of her bed and into Eight’s room. Sometimes, she’ll wake up and Three will already be there, sitting beside her and already trying to lull her back to sleep. And sometimes, on rare occasions (though becoming more and more common with each passing day), Agent 8 will wake up in the morning with Agent 3 beside her, snoring gently.

And, slowly but surely, Agent 8 will remember how it’s like to live without nightmares again.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm pretty new to the splatoon fandom so if there are any mistakes (including grammatical ones), please point them out for me!  
> thanks for reading :))


End file.
